The University of Oregon issued a statement in response to tight end Colt Lyerla's tweets regarding the shooting incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14 that resulted in the death of 26 people, including 20 children.

The statement read:

"Twitter posts attributed to student-athlete Colt Lyerla concerning the
tragedy at Sandy Hook are insensitive and offensive, especially those
devastated by the shootings, and we have communicated as much to Colt.
Though the University of Oregon Department of Athletics as well as the
football program have social media expectations in place for our
student-athletes, at times, personal opinions go well beyond what we
expect from our students. The University of Oregon and Department of
Athletics understand that our young men and women have a great deal of
freedom of expression on social media but with that freedom comes
responsibility. Our prayers and thoughts continue to be with the
families of Sandy Hook.”